By District Attorney Ryan Sayers
2023 Vol. 41
Over the last two weeks, the discussion has been about the five types of criminal homicide in Pennsylvania (first-degree murder, second-degree ‘felony’ murder, third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter).
However, there are other types of homicide in Pennsylvania that do not require the intent of murder and are essentially special forms of involuntary manslaughter.
This week I will discuss the four other types of homicide in Pennsylvania, which are assisting/causing suicide, drug delivery resulting in death, homicide by vehicle and homicide by vehicle while DUI.
First is causing or assisting in suicide. The legislature and governor have determined that it is a crime for a person to cause someone to commit suicide by force, duress or deception, or to assist in suicide.
In other words, if a person helps someone commit suicide or creates such an atmosphere that causes a person to take their own life, then they can be guilty of this type of homicide.
The second additional type of homicide is drug delivery resulting in death. This is a newer homicide statute, which holds dealers and traffickers of drugs responsible for any death that is caused by the drugs that they sold.
When drafting this statute, the legislature did not just make it a crime for the most immediate person who directly sold the drugs to the person that died.
Instead the legislature made it a crime for anyone in the chain or network. In other words, the dealer of the dealer of the dealer of the deceased can be held accountable, if law enforcement is able to determine and prove where the drugs came from that caused the death of the individual.
Next is homicide by vehicle. This type of homicide should be in the back of everyone’s mind that operates a motor vehicle.
It is a crime to recklessly cause the death of another person while engaged in a violation of any law of this Commonwealth and while operating a motor vehicle.
This means that if anyone dies in a car accident while you were speeding, texting and driving, operating without a license, passing a school bus with lights flashing, etc., then you can be guilty of homicide.
Finally there is homicide by vehicle while DUI. This one is pretty self-explanatory in that it is a crime to cause the death of a person while driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.
The difference between this statute and homicide by vehicle is that there is no intent required. The Commonwealth does not have to prove reckless conduct for homicide by vehicle while DUI because the DUI is, by its nature, reckless conduct.
That is a quick overview of the other types of homicide in Pennsylvania and concludes our discussion on that topic. Next week, I will start a multi-week discussion about drug operations and coordinated efforts with state and federal agencies.
Once again, if you have any questions that you would like answered in this weekly article before the end of the year, please feel free to e-mail me at districtattorney@clearfieldco.org.
Ryan Sayers is the elected District Attorney of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.
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